In the construction industries, it commonly occurs that buckets or pails of pre-mixed compounds require to be stirred and blended to a homogenous consistency prior to the use of that compound.
Such compounds include pre-mixed cement, paints, wallboard compound, vinyl adhesive, vinyl mastic compound employed for installing wall or floor tile, tile grouting compound, thin-set mortar, and the like. Commonly, such compounds are supplied in two gallon and five gallon pails that have been molded from plastics material, commonly the plastics materials being of a low-grade vinyl that has been weighted with additives.
In the production of such pails, of necessity a draft taper angle must be provided on the cylindrical side wall of the pail in order to permit freeing of the molded pail from the molding dies after the molding of the pail, the cylindrical side wall of the pail, while appearing to the eye to be truly cylindrical, in fact being in the shape of an inverted frustrum of a cone. Also, while barely perceptible, such pails, when filled with compound bulge outwardly to a small extent.
Mixing of the contents of such pails is commonly required before use of the contained compound. Additionally, after the contained compound has been used up, such pairs commonly are employed for mixing other compounds, such as Portland cement, gypsum plaster, sand or mud coat, etc., such as commonly are employed in the masonry and plastering arts.
The common practice in mixing the contents of such pails is to place the pail on a stable substrate, which commonly is a subflooring, and for the workman then to stand astride the pail, and grip the upper edge of the pail between the user's lower legs, thus to prevent oscillation and rotation of the pail during the mixing of the contents thereof. The mixing is commonly performed by a paddle attached to a high-powered hand drill, typically a five horsepower drill, as is commonly employed in the construction industry.
If the workman does not grip the pail between the workman's lower legs prior to effecting the mixing of the contents, the pail will rotate in the same direction as the direction of mixing, and then will commence to oscillate about the lower surface of the pail in an entirely uncontrolled manner. This can result in the contents of the pail being discharged onto the workman's clothes and onto the floor in a random and totally uncontrolled manner.
When the pail is gripped between the workman's lower legs, rotation of the pail and oscillation thereof relative to the supporting substrate is reduced to an acceptable level or even eliminated. If, however, the workman relaxes his grip on the pail, then, the pail can rapidly spin, causing damage and injury to the workman's lower legs by impacting of the bails of the pail onto the workman's shinbones, a situation which results in great discomfort to the workman.
The compound to be mixed vary from a relatively thin consistency, such as in paints, to a very heavy consistency, such as in vinyl mastic compound, roofing compound and tile grout, the stirring of such materials requiring very considerable gripping by the workman's lower legs, which can cause bruising of the tissue of the workman's legs.
The need to clamp the pail between the workman's lower legs, in turn results a need to shorten the supporting shank of the paddle employed in the mixing operation, in order that the workman can assume a semi-crouched position during mixing of the contents of the pail. Not only is this uncomfortable to the workman, but also, has the most undesirable requirement of moving the workman's face into closer proximity with the compound being mixed, with an increased probability of the compound being spattered onto the workman's face and upper clothing during the mixing operation.
Additionally, situations can arise in which a pail is required to be supported in a manner that will prevent accidental tipping of the pail by accidental impacts thereon. This is particularly when employing highly corrosive materials such as muriatic acid, that material commonly being employed for cleaning down brick, cement, stone, and tile work after the installation thereof.